The Isaksen sister act of Margaux and Isabella Isaksen (Fayetteville, Ark.) combined with Samantha Achterberg (Littleton, Colo.) to win gold for the USA in the Women’s Junior World Championship relay on Monday in Drzonkow, Poland.

The American trio started 45 seconds behind Ukraine in the combined event, but an inspired performance by Margaux Isaksen, who finished 4th at the London Games last month, propelled them to a 24-second margin of victory over host Poland. The Great Britain team placed third.

“To come here and win our first gold at world championships as a team is really wonderful,” said Margaux Isaksen. “Everything was good today but our combined was definitely the best.”

The U.S. squad started the day with a fourth-place effort in the fencing. Then, after knocking down only three rails in the ride they moved up to third place, 45 seconds behind the leader.

"This is a credit to the program that USA Pentathlon has been developing," said USAP Managing Director Rob Stull. "First and foremost, it is a credit to the athletes and coaches."